China and Virtual Worlds - UOneNet

Quote from the ever-reliable Virtual World News:

Beijing-based virtual worlds developer UOneNet* plans to launch a new virtual world called “uWorld" in 1Q 2008, according to redlinechina.com. uWorld is a 3D virtual community that allows users to live, interact, and conduct business together. Users of uWorld will be able to purchase virtual real estate, start businesses, create social circles, and make and sell virtual items. Alpha testing for uWorld will begin in December 2007, says the article. The founder of UOneNet, Eric Ye, was a former software architect at IBM and has a masters degree in engineering from the University of Southern California (USC). The company has been focusing on building a reliable backend, including its own proprietary technology called UniG, which is being used to build uWorld, the article says. UOneNet plans to design the virtual world to appeal to Chinese users by adding more in-game tutorials and content creation tools. Currently, UOneNet is operating with a mixture of angel and venture funding and has 60 employees total, according to redlinechina.com.



* The UOneNet webpage has an "English" button - but this seems to do sweet FA. On the other hand, the uWorld website has a fair amount of English content.